Naperville man pleads guilty to leaving porn, underwear along Prairie Path

A self-proclaimed amateur scientist has been banned from DuPage County's Pratt's Wayne Woods for the next year after authorities said he left pornography and women's underwear along the Illinois Prairie Path on several occasions.

William Winnie, 68, of the 1100 block of Greensfield Drive in Naperville, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of disorderly conduct and was sentenced to one year of court supervision, 30 hours of community service and prohibited from entering the woods for a year. Judge James Konetski accepted the plea and handed down the sentence on the same day Winnie was set to stand trial.

Prosecutors said Winnie, an avid cyclist, left pornography and women's underwear along the Prairie Path at various times between October and December 2017. When he was arrested, Winnie told officers he began collecting the underwear in the summer of 2016 and was "conducting an experiment."

He declined to comment as he left court after pleading guilty.

DuPage forest preserve police arrested Winnie on Dec. 2, 2017, after officers hiding along the trail saw him ride his bike across a bridge and retrieve a pair of women's underwear in a resealable bag, authorities said.

Chief David Pederson previously said a female jogger first noticed the items in mid-October along the Elgin branch of the path in the preserve near Wayne.

Between Oct. 17 and Dec. 2, forest preserve officers monitored tree-mounted trail cameras in the area and conducted plainclothes surveillance, often finding used underwear along with pornographic images.

Winnie was seen visiting the area on his bicycle and appeared to be checking on the items.

After officers arrested him on Dec. 2, they searched Winnie and found a pornographic picture in a resealable plastic bag, a police report said.

Winnie said he had discarded a pair of underwear at the bridge a week earlier and showed officers a bag containing the clothing, according to authorities.

"Winnie further stated that he regularly finds women's underwear hanging from trees along the Prairie Path, collects them, takes them home, and redeposits them in plastic bags along the trail," according to the police report associated with the case.